South Bay

ANIMAL CRUELTY CHARGE: A 67-year-old Rancho Palos Verdes dog seller was expected to surrender to authorities today on charges that he improperly housed 26 puppies on his property and allowed them to contract a variety of illnesses.

Edward Shimko was expected to turn himself over at 9 a.m. for booking on suspicion of 78 charges, including 26 felony counts of cruelty to animals and 26 misdemeanor counts each of permitting an animal to go without proper care and attention and improper confinement of an animal. He was expected to be arraigned later on the same charges in South Bay Municipal Court.

The case against Shimko stems from a Jan. 26 inspection of his home, in which officials with the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals / Southern California Humane Society allegedly found 26 malnourished, dehydrated puppies of various breeds living in feces-smeared wire cages and suffering from a number of diseases, including pneumonia and flea anemia.

But Shimko’s attorney, Stephen Garcia, maintains that conditions at his client’s home “were kept in accordance with all appropriate codes.”

Said Garcia: “I think you’re going to find that once this all comes out in the wash, this situation--while it’s disheartening on its face--is not as significant as one may have been led to believe by the SPCA.”